Collapsible mops



April 17, 1956 L. KOEHRING 2,741,790

COLLPSIBLE MOPS Filed Sept. 28, 1954 INVENTOR. LEONARD KOEH Rl NG ATTORNEYS United States Patent() COLLAPSIBLE MOPS Leonard Koehring, Milwaukee, Wis.

Application September 28, 1954, Serial No. 458,741

4 Claims. (Cl. 15-147) My invention relates to a collapsible mop, and more particularly to a mop handle equipped with a lever assembly for folding and expanding the mop cloth.

An object of my invention is to provide a device that is adjusted by means of a sliding arrangement mounted onto a handle.

Another object of my invention is to provide a device that will retain the mop cloth in a folded, or an expanded position, and easy to attach and detach from the handle.

Still another object of my invention is to provide a device in which the mop cloth may be folded in position to permit wringing in a conventional roller type of wringer.

A further object of my invention is to provide a device in which the mop cloth supports are pivoted to permit maximum contact of the mop with the surface being worked on.

lt is manifest to anyone familiar with mapping floors, that it is desirable for the mop in use, to contact the maximum of surface to be cleaned. It is also desirable to permit the mop cloth to be rinsed and to have the water squeezed out to bring the cloth to a moist condition. The device specified and claimed herein provides a means to permit a mop cloth to be easily placed in a conventional wringer, and then be expanded to a maximum position, and be easily replaced on the mop support without any mechanical adjustment.

Other and further objects of my invention will become more apparent as the description proceeds when taken in conjunction with the drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a front view of the device in an intermediate neutral adjusted position, with the mop cloth partly expanded.

Figure 2 is a similar view as shown in Figure l, showing the levers in an expanded position.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of the bottom of the handle, with the lever yoke and the links, and showing the adjustment slide in a disengaged position, and

Figure 4 is a side view of a pivoted mop cloth support, taken at the line 4 4 in Figure l.

Similar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views and referring now to the same the character shows a handle, which obivously may be constructed of wood or the like. This handle 10 is provided with a slide 11 which consists of semi-circular metallic bands extending outward at both ends in opposed relation to one another. The bottom of the handle 10 is provided with a bottom yoke shown as 12 which consists of a ferrule and two downwardly extending portions 13 and 13' for the support of the main levers 14 and 14'.

'Ihe device is to be employed in combination with a mop cloth shown as 15. The two main levers 14 and 14 are pivotally connected to the bottom yoke members 13 and 13 at 16 and have their upwardly extending ends pivotally engaging the lower ends of a pair of ICS 2 Y links 17 and 17.

18 and 18 of the slide 11.

The bottom end of the main levers 14 and 14 are provided with mop cloth supports 19 which herein each consist of a resilient clamping wire which is channelled to a U shape open at one end 20 and closed at the other end 21, and having an attaching link shown as 22 secured to and projecting upward from the upper portion of the cloth support 19 for pivotal engagement at 23 with the bottom of the main levers 14 and 14'. Said cloth supports are preferably pivoted to the levers 14, 14' so as to swing about an axis at right angles to the pivotal axis of said levers. This permits a pivoting action as shown by the dash lines in Figure 4, so that the mop cloth 15, when disposed within the cloth support 19, will always be at on the floor being serviced,.and yet permit the handle to be tilted relative to the floor.

The slide 11 eneircles the handle 10 and may be selec-` tively retained either in an upward or downward lixed position by means of the catch members 24 and 25 disposed on the handle 1b. These catch members 24 and 25 are attached to the handle 10 by means of screws shown as 26 and have an aperture 27 on their upwardly extending resilient portion into which the outwardly projecting pin or detent 2S forming a part of the slide 11, will engage when the slide 11 is placed into its extreme up or down position, depending on whether the mop cloth 15 is to be held in an expanded position, or into a folded position for rinsing and wringing.

The device is exceedingly simple in its construction and also in its operation and is adapted to t the purpose for which the mop is designed, namely, for contact with the surface being cleaned at all times, and also to be brought to a folded position so that the mop cloth can be rinsed and wrung out to a semi-dry state during the mopping operation.

With the cloth support shown at 19 being open at 20, the mop cloth 15 can be easily replaced, and although l have shown a particular arrangement and construction of my device I am fully cognizant of the fact that many changes in the form and configuration of the component parts may be made without effecting their operativeness, the spirit of my invention orthe scope of the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A device of the character described to be used in combination with a mop cloth, said device comprising, a longitudinal handle, a yoke attached to the lower end of said handle, a pair of crossed levers pivotally connected to said yoke member intermediate their ends, a sliding member surrounding said handle, said slide member provided with oppositely disposed hinge members, link members connecting the upper ends of said pivoted levers to said hinge members, transversely extending U shaped resilient clamping members for supporting said mop cloth, said resilient clamping members being hingedly attached intermediate their ends to the free ends of said levers, and means attached to the outer surface of said handle for selectively retaining said sliding member in a iixed position.

2. A mop construction to be used in combination with a mop cloth, said mop comprising in combination a handle, a yoke, said yoke comprising a ferrule for engagement with the bottom of said handle, and having a pair of supports spaced laterally apart from one another, a pair of crossed main levers pivotally supported between said lateral supports intermediate their ends and extending in opposite relation to one another, an adjustable slide supported on said handle, said slide having hinge members extending outward therefrom on op- The upper ends of links 17 and 17 are pivoted to the outwardly extending hinge membersl pbste'sid'estherebf,members connecting the upper ends 'of lsaid4 levers toethe hinge' members'on'saidslide,"4v Y a pair of transversely extending resilient clamping members open at one end ,and looped at thevother end for levers for swinging moverncntabouf afn axisatfriglit; anglesrto the" axis'j'of" pivotal' movement'o s'aid"'1`evers, and` means"onsaid la'ndle fonselefctively' retaining; the sliderelative totliehandlef.

3:' A' mopV handle assemblyp tliecharacter `describedA Y to-be'used' in' combinationwitla'mopcloth; saidfrrrop`4 Y assembly" comprising; a longitudinal' handle; a yokeVV at'- Y taehedvto "theiiotremendi of: 'saidhndleg. saidY 'yoke' com prising a pair of Isupports,ei'rtendiiig` ontwa'rcfin aligneA l5 nientv witlr saidharrdle arrdattched thereto; a pair of:Y crossed levers pivotallyconnefcted near'their center porrY tionsto'saidryoke'supportsga slide member surrounding' SaidhandIe; link members pivotally connected at 'their upper ends to opposite side's sfsliieAV and at their lor- 20 rom endsto' AsaidY levers, a'paii'ioFU-shaped nropjrcloxh` clamps pivotally a'ttachedat their "center" portion to 'the free endA 'of said levers,transver'selyot` the axisof pivotal movement of said levers', and means onto th`e` outer sur;y

face ofsaid handle 'for selectively retaining'said slideine 25 A 4. A mop construction to be used in combination with anx'orvcloth;said`4 mopI construction comprising iny compivotally attachedltof-thei freer ends lofi saidrlevers, said p clamping members beingopen at. one end andlooped at the einer end'fr enggenretwitesai 'nrop cloth, and detent meanson said handler-for,selectively engag ing said slide Vto retain said levers and clamping members in extended or collapsed positions relative to each other.

ReferencesCited-inthe le of this patent UNTBED- STATES PATENTS 

